"In August 2017, the Arakan Rohingya Salvation Army attacked police posts and an army base in western Rakhine state, Myanmar, claiming to fight for the rights of Rohingya, an ethnic Muslim minority living in western Myanmar. Within a few weeks, under the pretext of “clearance operations”, more than 600,000 Rohingya people fled across the border into neighbouring Bangladesh amidst reports of extrajudicial killings, sexual violence and arson by Myanmar’s state military, the Tatmadaw. The United Nations has declared this to be “a textbook example of ethnic cleansing”. This categorisation is only strengthened in private conversations with humanitarian actors working in Bangladesh, who describe the sheer scale of war crimes that have been committed against civilian populations since August.
And yet the Tatmadaw’s campaign has been disturbingly popular within Myanmar. Many of my friends from fieldwork, including members of other long-oppressed ethnic minorities, have posted in support of what they consider to be a mission to rid the country of illegal immigrants and terrorists. In the midst of the horror, I have been left wondering what my role as a researcher is. Indeed, while the anthropologist in my head cautions me to maintain reflexivity and consider the events more critically, this perspective and my pedagogical training seem inadequate right now..."

"The impact of night-time on the social life of refugees is under-researched.
Drawing on long-term ethnographic fieldwork with refugees from Myanmar
in Thailand, this article argues that researching refugees’ lives after dark is
essential for a comprehensive understanding of refugees’ social relations, education
and economic activities as well as health and safety concerns. Findings of
this article provide food for thought for researchers and practitioners working
with refugees and internally displaced persons around the world and are likely
to entice more research on the subject of night-time in refugee settings...."
Keywords: Karen refugees, camps, Thailand, night-time

"This paper examines the resettlement of refugees from Burma/Myanmar to the United
States, by focusing on the refugee experience. The ethnographic description of the
resettlement process reveals how refugees, by establishing a transnational “Myanmar”
community in the United States, manifested a nationalism that was hitherto believed to be
impossible.
Building a nation-state in Burma/Myanmar has been a controversial issue since the
nation’s independence from the British in 1948. Callahan argues that the process of state
building in Burma has focused on warfare and violence by the state. After independence,
the national army or Tatmadaw regarded citizens as potential enemies, and conducted
various anti-insurgency campaigns. Her argument richly elucidates the state-building
process in Burma/Myanmar. However, though the Nation and the State are inseparable, her
arguments exclude the nation-building process. This paper explores one aspect of
belonging to the nation of “Myanmar.”
While state building is one of the most important tasks for a country following ethnic
conflict, it is often analyzed only within the context of resistance movements, such as
“Burmanization” by the government or resistance movements against it. Hence, the possibilities for actual nation building have not yet been explored. The experiences of
refugees outside the country offer a new and useful perspective for such a discussion.
Refugees may no longer legally belong to their country of origin, yet their existence
expresses the core essence of the nation they come from.
The case study dealt with in this paper focuses on Karenni refugees from the Kayah
State, which is the smallest state in Burma. In the Kayah State, the Karenni National
Progressive Party (KNPP) has been resisting the Burmese ruling military junta for more
than 60 years, seeking either autonomy or independence from the state. The KNPP
strategically have used the word “Karenni” as an umbrella term that includes all ethnic
groups in Kayah State, in order to resist the Burma-centric state. The ex-chairman of the
KNPP, namely Khu Hte Bu Pe, invented a “Karenni” script for the sake of the core spirit of
his nation. Two refugee camps in Thailand were centers of KNPP politics in order to
construct the “Karenni”, and “Karenni” has been an anti-state term, with its use being
prohibited inside Burma by the junta. The category of “Karenni” or “Karenni” identity was
constructed as a refugee concept in Thailand. This paper discusses the further transnational
spread of “Karenni” through the resettlement of refugees to a third country, while also
considering the meaning of Burma and Myanmar for those resettled refugees..."

ABSTRACT:
"This study examines the place of new media in the maintance of Burmese diasporic identities. Political oppression in Burma, the experience of exile and the importance of opposition movements in the borderlands make the Burmese diaspora a unique and complex group. This study uses tapoetetha-kot, an indigenous Karen research methodology, to explore aspects of new media use and identity among a group of Burmese refugees in Auckland, New Zealand. Common among all participants was a twin desire to share stories of suffering and to have that pain recognised. Participants in this project try to maintain their language and cultural practices, with the intent of returning to a democratic Burma in the future. New media supports this, by providing participants with access to opposition news reports of human rights abuses and suffering; through making cultural and linguistic artifacts accessible, and through providing an easy means of communication with friends and family in Burma and the borderlands."...
Keywords: Burma, Karen, refugee, diaspora, indigenous, political activism, new media, tapotaethakot
VIOLET CHO

"...The thesis sought to explore the impact of organized violence, displacement and
resettlement has had on the identity of a micro-section of the displaced Karen people – those professing
to be Christian and either living in a displaced persons’ camp on the Thai side of the Thai-Burma
border or having migrated to a third country under the UNHCR Resettlement Scheme with a special
emphasis on Australia. The reason for choosing this particular micro-section of the Karen people is
that, though not the predominant faith practiced by the Karen, the Christian Karen are a synecdoche for
the Karen internationally.
The thesis was informed by theories of organized violence, displacement and resettlement and explored
their relationship to the central construct of identity. A transitional ecosystems model was used to
explore the interrelationship of these theories and concepts for Christian Karen, displaced from their
homeland by organized violence perpetrated by the ruling power of their country..."

Author/creator:

Shirley Lorraine Worland

Language:

English

Source/publisher:

School of Social Work and Human Services, Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences, University of Queensland

Abstract:
"As the refugee crisis unfolds, tens of thousands Karen refugees roam in the jungle,
make their way to the refugee camps on the Thai-Burmese border or self-settle in the
border town or in the countryside. In this paper, I explore the nexus of the Karen
becoming stateless and empowered in Christian networks. I engage with Castells’
social theory of network society to show the reliance of refugees on support networks.
I argue that Christians are able to counter their confinement to the refugee
camp by claiming spaces in the borderland. Far from being passive recipients of
humanitarian aid, Karen refugees emerge as senior evangelists who use cross-border
church networks to proselytize in the borderland. I show that the Karen use these
dense support networks for reconstruction in the Thai borderland and for re-entering
the war-zone in eastern Burma as part of a collective project and spiritual passage.
I argue that the development of an indigenous Karen Christian tradition is
intertwined and developed in tandem with the nationalist project of a Karen state.
The Karen “struggle” is thus interpreted in religious language of Christian prophecy.
This discourse is also reinforced by the identification of Western humanitarian aid
agencies with the fate of the Karen."

Abstract:
"This study examines ways in which Burmese diasporic identities are formed and maintained, and
the importance of new media in this process. Political oppression in Burma, the experience of
exile and the importance of opposition movements in the borderlands make the Burmese
diaspora a unique and complex group. This study used tapoetethakot, an indigenous Karen
research methodology, to interact with fourteen participants in Auckland, exploring aspects of
new media use and identity maintenance.
Common among all participants was a twin desire to share stories of suffering and to have that
pain recognised. This suffering is an important part of refugee identity and is also linked with
resistance against assimilation in New Zealand. Instead, participants try and maintain their
language and cultural practices, with the intent of returning to a democratic Burma in the future.
New media supports these processes, by providing participants with access to opposition media
reports of human rights abuses and suffering, through making cultural and linguistic artifacts
accessible and through providing an easy means of communication with friends and family in
Burma and the borderlands."

Material objects and the physical actions of making and using
them are a fundamental part of how forced migrants, far
from being passive victims of circumstance, seek to make
the best of – and make a home in – their displacement.

Introduction:
"Night-time is scarcely discussed when it comes to the analysis of life in refugee
camps. Around the world, humanitarian aid agencies´ access to camp sites is often
limited to traditional office hours. Aid officials’ presence may be limited by offical
curfews. Aid workers may retreat from camps for socializing and rest.
At night-time, refugee settlements – almost terra incognita - elicit ambiguous
sentiments among those who eschew them. Aid workers often see refugees’ nocturnal
activities as merely physical (e.g. sleep and sexual relationships). They also point to
increased dangers at night-time, and may use these to justify personal withdrawal.
Against this backdrop, this paper1 makes a first attempt to shed light on nocturnal life
in and around refugee camps. Most of the data used here stems from anthropological
fieldwork with Karenni refugee and forced migrant youth in and around a refugee
camp close to Mae Hong Son (Northern Thailand). I conducted this fieldwork during
January and February 2006 as a preliminary study for my doctoral dissertation project.
During the course of this research, I had only one opportunity to participate in a
nocturnal event within the camp and thus relied largely on the accounts of my
interlocutors (some of whom I regularly met during the hours of darkness outside the
camp) to form a picture of the time from dusk until dawn in and around refugee
camps. While the majority of research participants consisted of refugee and forced
migrant youth roughly between the ages of 17 and 25, the information presented in
this paper is also based on the testimonies and accounts of adults working and/or
living with these young people.
Besides the data originating from this case study, this text draws together findings on
forced migrants´ nocturnal lives in different geographical settings. Since this research
is a work-in-progress, this paper does not purport to offer an authoritative picture of
nocturnal camp life, but rather hopes to instigate discussion that might shape further
research directions.
The paper begins by stressing the importance of scrutinizing night-time, whether in
relation to forced migration or in social research, more generally. This is followed by
a presentation of preliminary research findings with regard to the impact of nightfall
on the lives of refugees and forced migrants, in particular, social relations; physical
security; mental well-being; and livelihood provision after dark.
The paper concludes by suggesting that exploring nocturnal aspects of refugee camps
and settlements might not only reveal new insights into refugees´ livelihood strategies
and coping mechanisms during the night, but also improve our general understanding
of social life in refugee camps and settlements."

"In 1996, approximately 1500 people lived in Camp 5, a refugee camp located in the jungle on the Thai-Burmese border. The camp was open and self-administered, with refugee-run schools, two churches, and one Buddhist monastery. Though unavoidably and significantly influenced by displacement, cultural life in Camp 5 was vibrant. Refugees were able to celebrate annual festivals in the camps; for many internally displaced persons inside Burma, such celebrations have been impossible for some years. One such festival is diy-kuw.
The people living in Camp 5 call themselves Karenni and have fled from Kayah State (referred to by the Karenni as "Karenni State"). Kayah is Burma's smallest state, bordering Thailand's northwestern province of Mae Hong Son..."

"The effects of displacement on culture can have significant impacts on the psychological and physical welfare of
individual refugees and on the social dynamics within a refugee population.
Yet, refugees and relief agencies alike often underestimate or feel too overworked to incorporate the importance of cultural
factors in assistance programmes. Potential cultural conflicts between refugee communities, host communities and relief
agencies are of course important. Less often recognised, however, is the importance of cultural variation and tension within the
refugee community.
This article argues that if relief agencies develop a greater awareness of cultural patterns and potential cultural conflict within as
well as between communities, their assistance programmes may be more effectively and appropriately designed and
implemented...This article is based on anthropological field research, conducted by the author at the request of the NGO concerned during the
course of wider field research conducted in 1996-7 and 1998, with Karenni refugees living in camps on the Burmese border, in
Thailand's northwestern province of Mae Hong Son. Karenni people have been fleeing from Karenni (Kayah) State in eastern
Burma and seeking refuge on the Thai side of the border for some years, the first significant numbers arriving in 1989..."